Politics
Roth Says New Legislation Could Save Lives by Paying Kidney Donors Through Tax Credits
Sean Carroll Mindscape
353 | Alvin Roth on the Economics of Morally Contested Markets
"Right now, there's periodically much less ambitious legislation in front of Congress. A bill that's trying to make its way through Congress is called the End Kidney Deaths Act. And it would give a limited compensation through income tax credits to non-directed donors, to kidney donors who donate a kidney anonymously without specifying who it should go to."
Roth discussed pending congressional legislation that would compensate anonymous kidney donors through tax credits rather than direct payment. He explained that the U.S. currently has only about 500 non-directed donors annually, and that doubling this number through modest compensation would be cost-effective given Medicare's expenses for kidney patients. The bill represents a compromise approach to expanding kidney supply while avoiding direct organ sales.
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Sean Carroll Mindscape